Tuesday 26 February 2013

A fresh, fragrant fridge & soup

A busy day of Drs appointments (another story) and cleaning the kitchen, especially the fridge , ready for my big weekly shop. I also moved furniture around a little - I wanted a little nook inside to sit and read, and have the evening pre-dinner drink, as it's so hot outside at present and the mozzies love to eat me alive.


  

The chairs were on the veranda, so are a bit dog-eared, or dog-chewed really.  The table was a $5 thrift shop find that I painted distressed white, and my 'new' cushion with the american flag was a thrift shop find last week ($2). The pictures are vintage 1942 food ads.

Here's my clean and shiny fridge  -well, ok, just imagine it looks like this - I forgot to photograph it. Also imagine everyone is smiling as they help me put away the groceries! In reality it's more like 'oh mum not that healthy yoghurt again, and celery, really?!"


I wish

My trick for cleaning the fridge is to use bi-carb soda and hot water. I can't help with making the kids smile.

Bicarb also absorbs odours in the fridge, so what I do is this:




I juice half a lemon (and add it to hot water for my morning perk up, wow, still getting used to that one) then fill it with bi-carb soda.

Then I put that in the fridge, usually in the top tray on the door so it doesn't get lost or knocked over, and tell the kids not to eat it.  "No, it's not sugar guys. But go head, give it a go."

Then, at the end of the week, when the fridge is empty-ish again, I add a little hot water to the lemon, turn it upside down and use it to scrub the fridge. Once the major dirty and sticky bits are dealt with, I then wipe it all down with more hot water. Easy! Fresh and lemony with no nasty chemical smell.

The other thing I do, before I tackle the cleaning, is to make 'clean out the fridge soup'. I use all the remnants of veg lurking in the bottom of the crispers – those limp carrots, the broccoli with more stalk that florets and that little bit of cabbage that was too good to throw away……I start with a chopped onion and garlic in a little oil, then add all the other chopped veggies. When they start to release some of their juices I add 1 cup of stock or tomato juice and a few cups of water and simmer on medium to low heat until the vegetables get soft. I also add a tin of (rinsed) beans, and some herbs to taste, then heat till its all hot. I like it chunky, but the next day I blend the soup up with a little milk for the kids and ola, "cream of vegetable soup." Who doesn't love soup?

1950s can soup ad

Tomorrow, I tackle the oven.  The fun just never stops!

Deb xxx

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